Newsies In Marching Band
by TakeOneLook
Summary: What would happen if the newsies were all jammed together in a marching band?
1. Casting Call

Jack jumped out of his beat-up black Jeep and slammed the door shut. He threw his cigarette on the ground before the band director saw it and grabbed his trumpet case out of the back. He threw a slight, coy nod at the three giggling fourteen-year olds in tank tops and short-shorts huddled outside of the band room door. The tallest of the three gave him a shy wave as he sauntered past. He raised his eyebrows at her, as if to say, "You're amusing, but not nearly cute enough for me." In response, she ducked her blonde head down and pretended as if the whole exchange had never happened.  
  
Jack was suddenly attacked from behind. "Jacky-boy!" a perky voice squeaked as she jumped on Jack piggy-back style. Jack set her down and turned around.  
  
"Heya, cutie!" he greeted her as he pecked her on the lips. He was about to indulge in a much deeper kiss, but he was interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat.  
  
"Hello, Jack," Mr. Miller, the band director, greeted him.  
  
"Oh, uh, hey there, Mr. Miller, um, I wasn't doing anything. I swear!"  
  
Mr. Miller just stared at him.  
  
Okay, I think that's enough to start with. Now it's time for the **CASTING CALL**  
  
Alright, so here's what I need. This is a pretty much all-girls casting call, because all the newsies are enough for the guys in the band.  
  
Name:  
  
Nickname:  
  
Newsie you want to date: (May or may not get 'em, Jack is still open cuz I haven't given his gf a name yet, and Race is MINE! so don't even try it! :P)  
  
Instrument, Color Guard, Drum Major(if you pick DM also pick something else cuz I might put a newsie there):  
  
Grade (8-12):  
  
Looks:  
  
Personality Traits:  
  
Weaknesses: 


	2. Band Camp: Day One

Thanks so much guys! My very 1st casting call has been a success! Yay!!  
  
P.S. There are a lot of cameos from my band in here, so if there's someone with a horribly butchered last name, it's a cameo. I tried to alter their last names so they won't be stalked. :P  
  
~~~  
  
Lute McDonaghey curled up in a corner of the band hallway, trying to get some sleep before the first day of band camp started. "I don't see why we have to be here at 7:30 in the morning," she grumbled as she tried to find a comfortable position.  
  
She was almost asleep when a large olive green duffel bag flopped on her head.  
  
"What the?" she exclaimed as she sat up, throwing the duffel bag across the hallway.  
  
She looked up to see Snitch leaning against the wall, smirking. Lute glared at him and stuck out her tongue.  
  
Snitch just chuckled, picked up his bag and headed towards the instrument room.  
  
Lute's eyes dreamily followed Snitch down the hall. It was too bad he was still dating that baritone that graduated the past year. "Dumb slut," she muttered under her breath.  
  
~~~  
  
Becca Jameson sighed as she fumbled with her purse, trying to retrieve a dollar bill. She finally yanked one out of her wallet and jammed it into the slot of the vending machine in the instrument room. The vending machine gobbled up the green slip of paper, and spat it back out just as quickly as it had eaten it. Becca groaned and shoved the dollar back in. The vending machine still would not accept the dollar. Becca's eyes grew fiery. "Take my money or die!" she hissed at the dollar-slot. She gave the machine a solid punch and tried to put her dollar in again. The vending machine sucked it in. Becca squinted her eyes, waiting for the dollar to be spat back out. But it wasn't. She opened her eyes and saw "1.00" blinking on the screen.  
  
"Yes!" she cried as she punched in D7 and watched her Reese's Cups fall to the bottom of the machine.  
  
Her eyes blazed with hunger as she slowly opened the package, letting the peanut-buttery smell penetrate her senses. Just as she was about to take a bite out of the creamy chocolate, someone ripped the package, still holding Reese's Cup Number Two, out of her hands.  
  
"Race!" she shrieked. "Give me that back right this instant!"  
  
"What are you gonna do if I don't?" he asked with a sly grin.  
  
"I'll dump you!" she replied with a completely straight face.  
  
Race's face grew sullen. "Don't even joke about that," he said as he tossed her the package.  
  
~~~  
  
Mr. Miller had stressed that everyone had to be at the school, ready to go at 8 AM sharp Monday morning. "Where IS he?" Flora Peterson wondered aloud as she paced back and forth in the band room. She sighed and leaned up against the chalkboard. She glanced at her watch. It was 8:15.  
  
Everyone slowly filtered into the band room, milling about and talking amongst themselves. Lenny Nydwarf and the DeLancey brothers picked up some drumsticks and decided to play every percussion instrument sitting in the room. Loudly.  
  
"Will you guys cut that racket out?!" Ruby snapped.  
  
Oskar just grinned slyly at her as he continued to "play" the drum set.  
  
Finally, at 8:32, Mr. Miller wandered into the band room, rubbing his eyes. He grumbled what might have been a greeting, and sat at his podium. "Flora, take over," he muttered as he shoved a piece of paper with the day's itinerary on it at her.  
  
Flora nodded. "Okay guys! Here's what's going on. Wind players, you're learning drill first out on the softball field. Percussion and color guard, you have sectionals until 10:00, when we switch. The wind players will have sectionals and percussion and guard will do drill. Lunch is from 12:00-1:00. Then we have sectionals again until 4:00 PM. After that is dinner break until six, when you have to be back here, ready to start ensemble until nine. Okay?"  
  
The upperclassmen nodded, the schedule being the same as the previous years, while the freshman and eighth graders looked around in bewilderment.  
  
~~~  
  
Color Guard Sectionals  
  
Grassy Knoll by the Track  
  
9:15 AM  
  
"C'mon guys, we've been doing these since guard camp!" Kathryn McLeod said as the eighteen member color guard set up for another set of one hundred drop spins and one hundred peggy spins.  
  
"Shut UP, Lassie!" Becca snarled. "We KNOW that already!"  
  
"Who are you to be saying anything to me? I'm a SENIOR! And CAPTAIN!"  
  
"Is there a problem, you two?" Jen Miller, the guard instructor and Mr. Miller's daughter, glared at the captain and co-captain of the guard.  
  
Both girls shook their head.  
  
~~~  
  
Wind Players Drill Rehearsal  
  
The Softball Field  
  
9:37 AM  
  
Scribble collapsed on the sideline, her arms and legs sprawled out in every direction. "Can't.move.can't.breathe.can't.march."  
  
Fluke gently nuged Scribble with her foot. "C'mon, get up! Uncle Nicky's only giving us 25 and a half seconds to get water!"  
  
Nick Miller stood at the top of the instructor's podium, gazing down at his captives, I mean, students. "Less talky-talky, more walky-walky!" he crooned. His father, the aforementioned Mr. Miller, was the band director at Pinkhawk, and he was following in his footsteps as the new band director at the Sun school district, about half an hour away. Apparently, he wasn't at Sun very often, because he always seemed to be hanging around Pinkhawk.  
  
"Okay, let's run this section again." Nick directed, inducing a unanimous groan from the band.  
  
~~~  
  
How do you like it? I know, it's just kind of random anecdotes right now, but I'm trying to introduce all the characters. They didn't all make it into this chapter, because I didn't want to make it too long (I hate reeeealy long chapters) I e-mailed everyone that made the cut, except Raven and Glitz, because I didn't have y'all's email addresses. So you two made it, too, k? 


	3. Band Camp: Day One continued

For those of you that don't know, a cameo is like a "special appearance" they're there, but not necessarily a big part of the plot, k?  
  
Lunch Break  
  
Gold Cafeteria (The school has 3 Cafeterias: Orange, Gold, and Brown)  
  
12:10 PM  
  
Jeska Jones tossed her plate of pepperoni pizza ordered from the band boosters on the table in the cafeteria as she hummed a song from the previous year's show. "Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice from a church where a wedding has been. Lives in a dream." she sang softly.  
  
"Jeska! Jeska! Jeska!" her best friend, Emilia Sparks ran towards her.  
  
"Woah, Sparks, calm down. Breathe. What's up?"  
  
"You will never guess what Blink just asked me!"  
  
Jeska's smile widened. "Did he ask you out?" she asked, almost more excited than her friend.  
  
"No, but he did ask me if I wanted his last slice of pizza. Do you think that means he likes me?" Emi asked hopefully.  
  
Jeska shrugged. "Maybe. Or he just wasn't very hungry."  
  
Emi frowned at her friend disapprovingly.  
  
~~~  
  
Drum Line Sectionals  
  
Track Parking Lot  
  
1:20 PM  
  
"C'mon guys, you need to concentrate. You sound like a bunch of cymbal players!" Alan, the percussion instructor, slurred in his drunken stupor.  
  
Kathryne "Duck" Blake kept poking Ruby in the side with her mallet.  
  
"Quit it!" Ruby snapped playfully, tapping Duck's arm with her own mallet. The poking quickly dissolved into a mallet sword fight and a fit of giggles.  
  
Oskar turned towards the dueling quad players, resting his hands on his snare drum. "Will you guys stop it!" he snarled at them.  
  
Duck rolled her eyes and Ruby stuck out her tongue.  
  
~~~  
  
Flute Sectionals  
  
2:15 PM  
  
Under the trees by the district office  
  
Sarah Flits and Emily Oswitz giggled as Emily scribbled something on her music. Sarah pointed at whatever Emily had just written and whispered something in her ear. Emily nodded and scrawled something else.  
  
Andrea, an instructor, noticed this. "C'mon guys, we need to get serious. We're going to Grand Nationals in three months!"  
  
Sarah and Emily rolled their eyes and went back to practicing their music.  
  
~~~  
  
Dinner Break  
  
4:15 PM  
  
Steps by the auditorium  
  
"Ok, who wants KFC?" Kaelie MacGilther announced to her friends, who were sprawled out across the steps by the auditorium. (There is an entrance to the auditorium in the band hallway.)  
  
"I do!" Colleen, "Java" Stevenson called out as she bounded towards Kaelie, landing smack in front of her with a solid jump. "Wait, do they have coffee at KFC?"  
  
Kaelie shook her head. "I don't think so."  
  
Java frowned. "Do you thing your mom could stop at the quickie mart and get me a cappuccino?" she asked eagerly.  
  
Kaelie put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you get it yourself? You do have a car."  
  
Java sighed. "Fine!" she conceded as she scampered off to the instrument room to fetch her purse.  
  
Kaelie collected the orders from her friends and ran out to give them to her mother. In doing so, she tripped over Snitch's hideous army green duffel bag and rolled out the door in a somersault. "I'm okay!" she assured everyone as she stood up.  
  
~~~  
  
Dinner Break  
  
4:30 PM  
  
Eli's House  
  
Eli Thompson tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear as she sat on her queen sized mattress. She smoothed down the fluffy sky blue blanket as she listened to Christy "Glitz" Meyers rant.  
  
"Can you believe they let Ed be an instructor? He just graduated last year!" she raised her voice as she paced back and forth through Eli's room.  
  
"I know what you mean, Glitzy."  
  
"He kept nagging me during marching fundamentals today. He was, like, stalking me or something."  
  
Eli nodded.  
  
"He thinks that just because he marched in Blue Coats, he's Mr. Spectacular!" Glitz waved her arms in the air as she talked. She let out a huge groan as she flopped onto Eli's bed.  
  
Eli grinned at her friend knowingly. "You like him."  
  
Glitz let out a soft whine as she nodded. "It's that obvious?"  
  
"Oh yeah!"  
  
~~~ Okay, I just noticed that I have a total lack of newsies as of right now. I promise there will be more later! **cross my heart and hope to die** Ummm, oh yeah, if the flute sectionals scene makes no sense, don't worry, it's not important, it's just in there for a couple of my friends, I think I'm gonna put that whole story of what they were writing in the Marching Band section. So yeah.. anyways.  
  
Sorry it took so long to update, I've been mondo busy with my other fic! I promised myself I'm going to have at least two more chapters on this fic before I work on my other fic again!! 


	4. Band Camp: Day Two

A/N: Whew! I've finally introduced everyone! **applaud** It took me long enough. Now I can concentrate on remembering to include the newsies. heehee  
  
And yes, I know that Les is only nine, but I thought it would be funny to make him an eighth-grade drummer.  
  
~~~  
  
Evening Rehearsal  
  
Softball field  
  
9:20 PM  
  
"Just one more time! Then you can go home!" Nick said over the microphone- megaphone contraption thing he always carried around.  
  
Treece "Petals" Flower shook her head in disgust. She poked Michelle "Raven" Beaufont in the back with her flute. "Raven, what time is it?" she asked.  
  
Raven sighed as she checked the black studded band around her wrist. "9:20"  
  
Petals scowled. "Isn't practice supposed to be over at 9?"  
  
"Tell that to Nick!" Raven snapped.  
  
The band ran through the section once more, and finally Mr. Miller signaled the end of practice. "Bring it in!" he called out.  
  
Once the band was all gathered around, Mr. Miller talked for what seemed like ages. About what? Well, no one in band could tell you. They never listened. Until of course, Mr. Miller ended his speech with the usual "Band Atten Hut!" Everyone stiffened, whether they were sitting, standing, kneeling, laying down, on their head, whatever. "One happy thought!" he said. Racetrack thought of the lottery. Becca thought of Racetrack. Emi thought of Kid Blink. Kid Blink thought of Emi. Java thought of a cappuccino. Spitball thought of chocolate.  
  
~~~  
  
9:30 PM  
  
Instrument Room  
  
Spitball chomped on her Hershey bar as she watched Spot pace back and forth through the instrument room.  
  
"It ain't fair!" he yelled. "Why ain't I drum major?? I can't believe they gave that position to her!" He pointed his finger at the brunette lingering in the hallway. "I should be drum major! I deserve it!" Spot's face started getting red as smoke poured out of his ears.  
  
Sarah Jacobs finally walked into the instrument room. "I'm sorry that I'm more talented than you, Spot, but you don't have to get all huffy about it!" she snarled at him. "They gave the position to the one who could do the job best!" "Yeah, the blow job." Jack muttered under his breath.  
  
Sarah whipped around. "I HEARD THAT!" she screeched.  
  
Jack looked at her calmly. "And your point is.?"  
  
Sarah just gaped at him until Raven came up and slipped her arm around Jack's waist. "Is there a problem here?" Raven asked icily.  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No, no problem," she stammered before she walked away. Sarah knew better than to start a fight with Raven.  
  
~~~  
  
Tuesday 8:30 AM  
  
Winds Drill Rehearsal (again)  
  
Softball Field (again)  
  
Ink set down her Mellophone, marking her spot, before she began her lap around the field. They had barely even begun practice and the whole band already had to run a lap because the trumpets were screwing around. "Think you guys could shut up just once?" she snapped at Race as she ran past him.  
  
"Think you guys could shut up just once?" Race mocked quietly, sneering at her.  
  
When they finally got back to their spots, Nick went back on his rampage. "Take it back!" he yelled. "Quick like bunnies!"  
  
~~~  
  
10:15 AM  
  
Guard and Percussion Drill Rehearsal  
  
Softball Field (yet again.)  
  
"Les, get in the form!" Hotshot whispered harshly at the first bass drummer. Les took a step to his right, pushing him even farther out of what was supposed to be a diagonal. Hotshot rested her forehead on her second bass drum. "Stupid eighth grader." she mumbled. He could barely even see over his drum. To make things worse, all the guard members thought he was sooo cute. They doted over him like he was their son. It gave him an ego the size of the school.  
  
~~~  
  
12:15  
  
Lunch break  
  
Gold Cafeteria  
  
"Mushy!" Glitz called at her twin brother. Mush Meyers turned around from the lunch line and shot Glitz a look.  
  
"Don't call me that!" he ordered.  
  
"Could you get me a piece of pizza and a Pepsi while you're up there?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.  
  
"No."  
  
"But why not?" Glitz asked, pouting.  
  
"Because you called me Mushy."  
  
Glitz frowned and joined Eli in the back of the line.  
  
~~~  
  
2:00 PM  
  
Brass Sectionals  
  
Somewhere Behind the School  
  
"Bhu-DAT!" Nick said as he flailed his arms in the air. He was trying to make a point about what they were playing, but no one was really sure what it was. "All right, start again," he said, frustrated. The low brass began the beginning of "Carrying the Banner." Yes, this season's show is Newsies. The repertoire includes "Carrying the Banner," "Santa Fe," "King of New York," and "Seize the Day."  
  
~~~ A/N: Yep, their doing Newsies. It seemed only appropriate. Our school did it a couple of years ago. When I was too young to be in band. **runs off to pout**  
  
**A few hours later**  
  
Okay, I'm back. We didn't do King of New York for the show, but we did the other three. I decided to throw in KONY because it is the most awesomest song in the whole movie.  
  
I do, however, have the t-shirt from the show (they had extras lying around) It's really ugly. (Yes, blasphemy, I know.) The cartoon guy on the front is supposed to be Jack, but it looks nothing like him. And the font is nasty. *Blech* Okay, I'm done complaining. Review!! 


	5. Band Camp: Day Two continued

A/N: Sorry for the delay, guys! You wanna hear a fun story about why I haven't updated in a while? I swear it's not very long! Okay:  
  
My mom's computer philosophy: "If our computer isn't running as fast as I'd like it to, even though it is five years old and we bought it used, it must mean there are too many files. So I'm just going to go willy-nilly and delete things, even though I have no idea what they are. Hmmm. Microsoft Office. I wonder what this is? Oh, well. **delete** Hmmm, let's see what else we have here. **tries to open one of my Word files** Becca! Why isn't this working?"  
  
**I come in** **tries to open it** "Mom, what did you do? It says that there is no program to open this."  
  
"I just deleted some stuff we didn't need."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Microsoft Office. But I don't understand what that has to do with Microsoft Word."  
  
"That IS Microsoft Word. And PowerPoint, and Binder, and Access, and Photo Editor and." **head explodes**  
  
So, to make a long story longer, (haha, gotcha!) I hate WordPad, and Microsoft Works isn't compatible with ff.net, so I had to wait for my dad to get the Office disks off of his friend who we bought the computer off of. But now it's reinstalled and I can actually write the next chapter. I was so lost without Word. It's like my life support.  
  
Okay, now that I've shared my mother's stupidity with you all. (But I love her anyways..) I'll get on with the story.  
  
~~~  
  
3:00 PM  
  
Pit Sectionals  
  
Back Patio  
  
Flora was so bored. She had been playing scales on her keyboards for hours. But their instructor, Dave, wouldn't give them their show music. "I can't wait until band camp is over and we can get rid of this guy." she mumbled under her breath.  
  
"You're tellin' me!" a voice behind her said.  
  
Flora jumped, startled. She turned around to see Crutchy grinning at her. "Oh, hey Crutch," she said. Crutchy smiled as he rested his hands on his bass guitar. The senior ran his hand through his curly brown hair. "So, how are things going with you and lover-boy?" he said, teasingly.  
  
Flora glared at him. "They're not, thanks for bringing it up!"  
  
"Why don't you talk to Glitzy? She could probably put in some good words for you!"  
  
Flora rolled her eyes. "We all know she won't do that. She's still sore about that prank we pulled on her in Florida last year!"  
  
Crutchy looked a bit confused. "What prank?"  
  
"You know. We roomed with her in Florida, and we put an E.T. hat on her head while she was sleeping and took pictures. You know how afraid she is of that movie! She was so pissed!"  
  
Crutchy nodded, remembering. "Ooooh, yeah. She's still mad about that?"  
  
Flora nodded. "We're on speaking terms and all, but she's not about to do me a favor."  
  
"Oh."  
  
~~~  
  
4:15 PM  
  
Dinner Break  
  
Back Lobby by the Band Room  
  
Becca walked towards the band room, dragging her rifle on the ground. She lightly touched the growing bruise inside her forearm. "Ouch!" she sighed softly. Although she was a senior, this was her first year on main rifle line. She had just started rifle during the winter guard season, but it was easy, secondary rifle work. Band camp was definitely a wake up call.  
  
Specs grinned as he saw his friend walking a few steps ahead of him. He walked up behind her and poked her in the back with his trombone.  
  
Becca turned around. "Specs!!!" she screamed as she chased him down the hallway, almost knocking over Lassie.  
  
"Watch it you brat!" she yelled at Becca. "Oh, hi Specs!" she waved cheerily as she noticed that he was there also.  
  
But Specs didn't notice. He was too busy trying to avoid being mauled by an angry guard member. They could pack quite a punch.  
  
When Lassie finally found Specs, he was cowering in a tuba slot. "Is she gone yet?" he asked, a worried look on his face.  
  
Lassie nodded as she extended a hand to help him up. When she pulled him, she yanked a little too hard and fell backwards into the vending machine, with Specs running into her. After she got her balance back, she realized that he was still standing there, his face about three inches from hers.  
  
"Ummm, Lassie." Specs mumbled.  
  
Lassie looked up at him, trying to suppress the silly grin that was forcing its way across her face. "What?" she asked quietly.  
  
Specs never answered. Well, actually he did, but without words. He pressed his lips softly against hers. He was about to deepen the kiss when he heard a loud clearing of the throat.  
  
"PDA alert!" Skittery announced as the saxophones filtered into the once empty instrument room.  
  
Specs backed away quickly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Skitts!" he stammered as he shot Lassie an apologetic look and quickly exited.  
  
Lassie just stood there, grinning wildly.  
  
~~~  
  
Mr. Miller stood outside his office, chatting with his wife, Linda, who was the guard sponsor. (In case you haven't noticed, the band thing is a family affair) He stopped, however, when he saw Spot sauntering past, his head hanging low and his trumpet in hand.  
  
"Spot! Can I talk to you for a moment?" he motioned at Spot.  
  
Spot shrugged. "Sure, why not?"  
  
Mr. Miller ushered him into his office and closed the door behind him.  
  
A few moments later, Sarah walked past, basking in her drum major glory, not noticing that she was the most despised human on the planet. She glanced through the window of Mr. Miller's office, and noticed that he and Spot were having a very animated conversation. She thought nothing of it, however, and continued towards her car.  
  
Just after she left, Spot exited the office, a triumphant smile on his face and a spring in his step. Jack noticed and gave Spot an inquisitive look. "Why are you so happy, Spot?" he asked.  
  
Spot's smile widened as he puffed out his chest and placed his hands on his hips, as if he were SuperSpot. "I'm drum major!" he announced proudly.  
  
Jack grinned. "They got rid of Sarah!!!" he shouted, jumping for joy.  
  
"Don't push your luck, Cowboy!" Spot said, his smile dropping slightly. "We're gonna have two drum majors this year, instead of just one."  
  
"Oh, really?"  
  
"But the good news is, you're not going to be in my shadow anymore!"  
  
Jack stared at him, as if to say 'yeah, right.' "As if I were in your shadow to begin with!"  
  
But Spot didn't hear him. He had already set off to tell the world that he was drum major.  
  
~~~  
  
6:15 PM  
  
Evening Rehearsal  
  
Softball Field  
  
"Where's Spot?" Scribble's brow furrowed as she looked around. "It's not like him to be late!"  
  
Jack smiled, keeping the news to himself. He enjoyed watching his section scramble around.  
  
"Hey, there he is!" Fluke announced, pointing towards the front of the field. "What's he doing up there? And why is climbing on the podium?"  
  
Before anyone could answer her questions, Spot called out towards the other band members. "Hey, guys!!" He waited for them to stop talking. It didn't happen. "Guys! Yoo-hoo!" He waved his hands in the air. He was starting to get frustrated. "WILL YOU ALL PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!!" he screamed. That got everyone's attention. "Okay, we're starting at letter B, just before the eight count hold in "Carrying the Banner."  
  
Sarah stood at the bottom of the podium, staring up at Spot like he was crazy. "What on earth are you doing?" she hissed.  
  
Spot glanced down at her momentarily. "Conducting. Something you obviously don't know how to do."  
  
"But I'm drum major!!" she whined, stomping her foot.  
  
"Well whoop-dee-doo for you! So am I!" he said, and with that, he started conducting.  
  
Sarah marched over to Mr. Miller, placing her hands on her hips and sticking her bottom lip out. "Mr. Miller, what is Spot doing? I'm drum major!"  
  
"Well, so is he," Mr. Miller replied, not really listening.  
  
"What do you mean!" she asked, her voice squeaking at an annoyingly high pitch.  
  
"We're having to drum majors this year. Deal with it," he said matter-of- factly.  
  
"Well what am I supposed to do while he's conducting??"  
  
Mr. Miller motioned towards a ladder on the 40 yard line. "Stand there and conduct."  
  
Sarah muttered a few vulgarities under her breath as she huffed off.  
  
~~~  
  
8:15 PM  
  
Evening Rehearsal  
  
Softball field  
  
"Why are the brass members so freaking stupid that they can't do that set right? We've been running it all night!" Becca complained as she paced back and forth in the infield. Their makeshift football field was set so the infield was in the back, and the color guard had to traipse through it the whole show.  
  
"You're tellin' me, Bec!" Glitz agreed.  
  
Becca was sick of standing, so she plopped herself down in the dust and started drawing pictures with her finger. "Look, it's a duck!" she said as she scribbled.  
  
Glitz and Eli walked over to join her. "Fishes are better!" Glitz said as she drew one next to Becca's duck.  
  
"Well I'm making a birdie!" Eli said as she ran her finger through the sand.  
  
Lassie walked over, frowning at the group. "What on earth are you doing?" she asked, looking at their artwork.  
  
"Having fun!" Glitz said, grinning.  
  
"Grow up." Lassie muttered under her breath as she tramped back to her spot.  
  
"Okay, let's move on to the next set!" Nick said.  
  
"Finally!" the three guardies cried in unison as they rushed back to their respective spots.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: Yes, I do really draw pictures in the sand when I get bored! That duck was one of my best works! **smiles proudly** And some of my friends pulled that E.T. prank on one of our guard members at Disney. It was pretty darn funny. Anywho, review! Oooh I rhymed! 


	6. Band Camp: Day Three Hump Day!

A/N: For the record, I really do like Sarah. She's just such an easy target. So she's bitchy in this story. But I'm nice to her in my Newsies trilogy. **shameless plug** Please read my other stories, "Couldn't Ask For More" and "Don't Leave Me Behind" Please? I'll give you a cookie!  
  
Race: I like cookies!! Can I have one please? **puppy dog pout**  
  
Well, you've been such a good boy in my fics, I guess you can have one. **pulls a cookie out of her pocket and hands it to Race, who is drooling**  
  
Race: **gobbles it up** Eww, peanut butter!! Yucky! Where's the milk? I need to get this taste out of my mouth!  
  
**hands him a milk carton**  
  
Race: **opens it up and puts it up to his lips** Hey, wait, this is empty!!  
  
**laughs evilly** Got milk?  
  
~~~  
  
Wednesday 7:30 AM  
  
Band Hallway  
  
"It's HUMP DAY!!" Race screamed as he barreled down the hall.  
  
"Uh.oh." Lute said distractedly as she saw Race coming towards her. Her hazel-green eyes grew wide, like a deer caught in the headlights. She knew what was coming.  
  
"Hey Lute!" Race said as he came up to her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tight, and, well, humped her.  
  
Lute shrieked, completely disgusted. "Get off me!" she cried, wincing.  
  
Race grinned wildly at her as he skipped off to find another victim.  
  
Ruby smirked as she paced past Lute. "Race got to ya already?" she asked, noticing the disturbed and bewildered look on Lute's face.  
  
Lute nodded slowly. "Uh-huh" she mumbled, still in shock.  
  
Ruby grinned and patted Lute on the shoulder. "It'll be okay, just breathe. In.out.in.out."  
  
"Yo Dreamer!" Spot called from the instrument room.  
  
Ruby smiled apologetically. "Sorry, duty calls." she said as she sauntered towards the instrument room. She barely gave the duties list on the door a second look. She was a junior, she didn't need to worry about it. Only freshman got duties.  
  
"Whaddya want, freak?" she asked Spot before she planted a light kiss on his lips.  
  
Spot smiled as she pulled away. "That."  
  
Ruby grinned. "So how did you manage scoring drum major, anyways?"  
  
Spot smirked, shooting a look at Sarah, who was giving him an evil glare from the other side of the room. "Just between you and me, Mr. Miller said he didn't trust that dumb flake with such an important job."  
  
Ruby looked at Spot with interest as she clasped her hands in his. "Are you serious?"  
  
Spot nodded. "Not in those exact words, mind you."  
  
"How'd she get to be drum major in the first place?" she asked.  
  
"They brought judges in from outside of our band. They really had no clue about anybody."  
  
"Ah," Ruby said. Just as she was about to go find her dot book, Scribble called at her from just outside the room. "Rubes! You're not going to believe this!"  
  
"What is it?" Ruby asked as she whisked towards Scribble.  
  
Scribble just shook her head as she pointed at the duties list. Right there, next to the words "Yard Line Markers" was a name. But not just any name. Ruby Mayers.  
  
"What the hell!" Ruby exclaimed in shock. She stood speechless for a moment, before calling for her boyfriend. "SPOT CONLON!" she screamed.  
  
A second later, Spot came jogging out. "What's up, babe?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.  
  
"Don't touch me!" she snapped, ripping his hands from the bottom of her black ribbed tank top. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, pointing at the piece of notebook paper.  
  
Spot squinted, mouthing the words on the paper as he read. Every single name on the list, which was meant for freshman, and occasionally sophomores, was a junior or senior. Most of which were Spot's friends.  
  
"Sarah!" he yelled, charging into the band room.  
  
Sarah looked at him icily. "I'm kinda busy Spot!" she said as she grabbed Ryan's hand. Ryan blushed sheepishly as he looked at the ground. A sophomore trumpet player, Ryan was obsessively in love with Sarah. Why? No one could figure it out.  
  
"What the hell did you do with the duties list I made up last night?"  
  
Sarah tilted her head, as if she were thinking intensely. As if it were actually possible. "I don't know." Suddenly, her head perked up as she had a sudden revelation. "Oh, yeah, I decided to be unconventional this year. Why should the freshman and sophomores do all the duties? Why not the upperclassmen?"  
  
"BECAUSE THEY'RE UPPERCLASSMEN!!" Spot roared, his face turning a bright red. He stormed off towards the duties list, and ripped it off the wall. He rushed into the instrument room and rummaged through his slot, looking for a spare piece of paper. All he could find was an old McDonald's wrapper. He scribbled furiously for a few moments, then took the chewing gum out of his mouth and stuck it to the back of the wrapper. A few moments later, the new duties list was up. "Check duties!" Spot announced through the band hallway.  
  
~~~  
  
12:15 PM  
  
Lunch break  
  
Gold Cafeteria  
  
"So, does anyone know what the senior prank is?" Spitball asked, glancing around her table. All she got in response was six shaking heads.  
  
"Guys, what are we going to do for our senior prank next year?" Scribble asked, looking at Lute and Emi.  
  
Lute shrugged. "We could turn the staff's podium into an ice cream sundae," she suggested.  
  
Emi rolled her eyes. "You do realize we're going to have to clean it up afterwards!"  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"You guys could take the tires off of Mr. Miller's truck and put them on the podium!" Spitball suggested. "You know how much he loves that thing! It's like his baby!"  
  
"Yeah, and then we'd all DIE!" Scribble said. "And plus, it's been done. They did it our freshman year with his old truck. You know we can't do anything with his truck, guys, we've gotta think of something more original."  
  
"You guys could take the ladder down from the podium and hide it somewhere. Or maybe totally empty out his office." Kaelie suggested.  
  
"You know, emptying out his office is a pretty good idea!" Emi agreed.  
  
"Yeah, but it's a total mess. We'd never be able to keep him out of there long enough to get rid of everything. And we'd have to put it all back." Lute said as she took a bite of her sub.  
  
"We'll just have to keep thinking," Scribble said. And with that, she stood up to throw away her garbage. But she ran into Bumlets at the garbage can, and wasn't seen again by her friends until practice.  
  
"Sooo, Scribble, ready for another fun brass sectional?" Bumlets asked, placing his hand on Scribble's arm.  
  
Scribble bit her lip. "Ummm." she said, her heart all aflutter. She and Bumlets had been flirting on and off since jazz band, but neither had enough courage to ask the other out. "Is anyone every ready for anything involving Nick?" she asked, rolling her eyes.  
  
Bumlets laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. He slid his hand from her forearm down to her hand. "Hey, ya want to go somewhere and talk?" he asked as he wove his fingers through hers.  
  
Scribble grinned nervously and nodded as the two walked down the hall.  
  
~~~  
  
Hotshot ducked as a Swedish fish went flying over her head. "That's a perfectly good waste of food, you know?" she said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn, stuffing it into her mouth.  
  
"Oh, yeah? Well this is a perfectly good waste of water!" Kaelie said as she shoved an ice cube down Hotshot's back.  
  
"Mac!" she shrieked, her voice at a high enough pitch to shatter bullet- proof glass. (Does that exist?) Grabbing her water bottle, she turned around and began to chase Kaelie around the cafeteria.  
  
"Look at it this way, at least she didn't set you on fire!" Java called after them.  
  
~~~ "You'll never guess who I saw at the party last weekend, Jack." Raven said mysteriously as she sipped on her Diet Pepsi.  
  
"Who?" Jack said as he looked at Raven curiously.  
  
Raven grinned wickedly, knowing that what she was about to say would tick Jack off to no extent. "Sarah."  
  
Jack clamped his hands over his ears. "Please don't say that name in my presence," he said painfully, "it's bad enough I have to look at that chick all day on the field."  
  
"You didn't seem to mind it too much last year." she said, grinning wildly. She loved getting under his skin.  
  
Jack put his hands over his eyes. "Don't remind me!"  
  
"Well, if you're interested, she got totally smashed and made a fool of herself as usual," Raven continued.  
  
Jack peeked out from behind his hands. "Really?" he asked, smiling slightly.  
  
Raven nodded, running her pale, petite finger around the rim of her pop can.  
  
"So, what'd she do? Did she try to hit on the mailbox again?"  
  
"No," Raven said, smiling, as she began to relay the events of Sarah's latest embarrassment.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: Yep, Sarah is definitely modeled after one of our drum majors. Only our drum major has more friends. Anyways, I guess that's about it.  
  
Race: Hey, what about me?  
  
What?  
  
Race: I never got any milk.  
  
**hands Race a glass**  
  
Race: **takes a sip** Eww, why does this taste funny?  
  
It's soy milk. It's good for you.  
  
Race: **makes a face** Ugh. Well, review everyone! And tell Becca she needs to get me some real food! 


	7. Band Camp: Hump Day continued

Race: I still want real food!!  
  
Here, Race! **hands Race the tofu from Spitball**  
  
Race: **holding it up** What is this? **takes a bite** Mmmm, yummy! I like it. **grins**  
  
Really? I never knew you liked tofu!  
  
Race: **turns green**  
  
Hey Race, why don't you explain to our lovely audience what Hump Day is?  
  
Race: **chokes** There's people that don't know what Hump Day is? **faints**  
  
Oops.. Well... Anyone else care to explain what it is to my dear readers?  
  
Mush: **raises his hand** Oooh! Oooh! I will! Pick me!  
  
Alright... go ahead....  
  
Mush: Okay, there's a saying that Wednesday is "over the hump" day, because it's right smack dab in the middle of the week. Well... some people in our band take it a bit too literally. They go around, humping people and just being generally insane.  
  
It's fun! But sadly, I only have one hump day left, for next year I will be a senior. **sniff sniff**  
  
Okay, on to the story... *dun dun DUUUUUN*  
  
~~~  
  
Woodwind Arc  
  
1:20 PM  
  
Back Patio  
  
"So, Petals," Jeska whispered, "what's going on with you and Snoddy?"  
  
Petals' eyes widened. "Why? What? Have you heard something?"  
  
Jeska giggled softly. "I've heard a few things..." she said, raising her eyebrows.  
  
Petals stared intently at her music, trying to hide the blush creeping across her face. She played a few bars of "King of New York" before asking, "What, exactly, have you heard?"  
  
"Oh nothing... just that you're flirting, dating, married..."  
  
Petals looked over at Jeska quickly. "MARRIED?"  
  
Jeska responded with playing the end of "Seize the Day" on her clarinet.  
  
~~~  
  
Brass Arc  
  
Same time  
  
Just a few feet away.  
  
"So, Snoddy, I hear you and Petals are gettin together!" Jake said to his friend.  
  
Snoddy blushed. "Where'd ya hear that from?"  
  
"A little bird told me..."  
  
"Don't you start acting like Spot, now!"  
  
Emi tooted a few notes on her trumpet, trying to look like she was practicing. She pretended to stare intensely at her music, but her eyes diverted to where Blink was explaining something to another trombone player.  
  
"I really should work on this," she mumbled to herself. She started reviewing the lick she was having trouble with in "Carrying the Banner." After working on it for about ten minutes, she finally got the hang of it. To reward herself, she glanced around, trying to catch a sight of Blink. 'Where is he?' she thought to herself. Her question was soon answered.  
  
"Boo!" Blink said as he grabbed Emi by the shoulders.  
  
Emi jumped three feet into the air. "BLINK!" she screamed. She turned around, giggling. Blink stood there, smirking. Emi grinned as she lunged towards him. She knew his ticklish spot.  
  
"Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Blink squealed girlishly as he squirmed away. "I hate you!"  
  
Emi rolled her eyes. "I'm so sure."  
  
"Sparks..." he mumbled.  
  
"What?" she asked, her hands resting on her hips.  
  
"Oh, nothing," he muttered, staring at the ground.  
  
~~~  
  
Dinner Break  
  
6:30 PM  
  
Instrument Room  
  
Kaelie punched the vending machine. "Stupid piece of crap!" she yelled. Suddenly, the vending machine started to shake. Kaelie looked over to see Dutchy with his hands against the side of the machine, rocking it back and forth. She smiled as she watched her long-awaited chips fall out of the evil clutches of the rings that were holding it in.  
  
"Thanks, Dutch," she said with a smile as she reached down to grab her chips.  
  
"No problemo, chica!" he grinned.  
  
"So, you're speaking Spanish now?" she asked. "Should we change your name to 'Spanishy'?"  
  
Dutchy raised his eyebrows in interest. "You're a weird one, MacGilther," he said.  
  
"I know," she said with an impish gleam in her eye.  
  
Dutchy laughed softly as he threw his arm over her shoulder as they exited the instrument room.  
  
~~~  
  
Same bat time  
  
Auditorium  
  
"I cannn't thrrrooowww riiiifflleeeeee!" Becca said in a singsong voice as she dropped another quad. "Grah!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Simmah down, doll!"  
  
Becca jumped, startled. She thought she was alone. She whipped around to see who the intruder was. "Race, darling!" she greeted him.  
  
"Darling?" he asked curiously.  
  
Becca giggled as she threw her arms around him. "Yep! Gotta problem with it?"  
  
Race grinned slyly. "Nah," he said as he leaned in for a kiss.  
  
After few long minutes, the couple was interrupted by Eli bursting through the door. "Flit!" she called, "I need help with the flag ensemble!"  
  
Becca grumbled as she pulled away from Race's embrace. "I gotta help 'er," she mumbled apologetically.  
  
Race was crestfallen. "Fine," he muttered as he slouched into the band hallway.  
  
"Eliiiiiii!" Becca whined, "I was having fuuun!"  
  
"Oh, please!" Eli said as she rolled her eyes, "You'll have plenty more opportunities for that! Now, how do you do that 45 toss?"  
  
Becca sighed as she started to explain.  
  
~~~  
  
"Inky-dink!" Duck called happily.  
  
Ink turned from the bulletin board, looking at her strangely. "What did you just call me?"  
  
"Inky-dink. You know, like..." Duck started to sing, "Skidamarinkydinkidink, skidamarinkydoo, I loooove yoooooou!"  
  
Ink backed away slowly. "Ducky... you're scarin' me."  
  
"Awww, come here!" Duck cooed as she chased after Ink.  
  
Ink took off down the hallway. "Get away, you freak!" she called teasingly.  
  
"But Iiiiiink!" Duck called after her.  
  
Ink veered around a corner, but was stopped when she collided with a tall, dark, handsome figure.... Okay, it was Davey.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" David asked playfully.  
  
Ink grinned widely at him. "Runnin!" she exclaimed as she began to take off again.  
  
David caught her by the waist before she could get past. "Uh-uh," he warned.  
  
"What?" she whined.  
  
He motioned towards his cheek.  
  
Ink rolled her eyes. "Fine," she surrendered as she gave him a peck on the cheek.  
  
"That's better," David said with a smile as he watched his girlfriend take off down the hallway, with Duck following closely behind.  
  
~~~  
  
Evening Ensemble Practice  
  
7:40 PM  
  
Baseball field  
  
Flora bit her lip as she played a few chords on her keyboard. Deep in concentration, she didn't realize that the instructors had given them a water break. Her engrossment was disturbed shortly, however, by a pair of hands covering her eyes.  
  
"Guess who!" a male voice sang.  
  
Flora thought hard, trying to place the voice, hands, and very sexy cologne. "Mush!" she proclaimed after a few seconds.  
  
"Ding ding ding!" he said cheerily as he took his hands off of her face, letting them slide down to her arms as she turned around. "How are ya, doll?" he asked.  
  
Flora blushed wildly. "Ummm.. I'm alright, I guess," she stuttered.  
  
"The keyboard parts sound great tonight!" Mush said a little too enthusiastically.  
  
Flora giggled. "Mush... I haven't played anything with you guys yet tonight... You've been doing King of New York, and I don't have any parts for that."  
  
Now it was Mush's turn to blush. "Oh... um... well they sounded great when you were practicing on your own!"  
  
Flora smiled. "Thanks!"  
  
"Everybody back on the field!" Nick called out.  
  
Mush gave Flora's hand a quick squeeze. "Gotta go! Talk to ya later!" Mush said as he ran off to join the alto saxes.  
  
Flora let out a soft squeal of delight as she turned back to her keyboard.  
  
~~~  
  
Wow, this chapter took forever. Stupid writer's block gremlins. *curses gremlins*  
  
Ah, yes, a question for my lovely cast: All of you in a relationship (or future relationship), would you be willing to give up your Newsie eventually? Not right away, don't worry, you'll get some quality time with your newsie, but it would make for a very boring story (not to mention very un-band-like) if everyone lived happily ever after. You know?  
  
And those of you not in a relationship (Glitz, Hotshot, Spitball, Jeska, Eli, Fluke, and Java)... anyone want Race? Because I'm staging a break-up for me and him later on.  
  
And to the first three reviewers... copies of slow-motion pelvic thrusts!! (As I've mentioned to some of you already... I just realized that my DVD player has a slow-motion feature (but sadly no zoom) and let's just say I had some quality time with those pelvic thrust scenes a few days ago.) 


End file.
